As a conventional apparatus for quality inspection of shafts used to carry out the quality inspection of shafts, one disclosed in the below-identified Patent Document 1 is, for example, known.
The inspection apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a rotary table provided with cutout grooves at the outer periphery thereof at a predetermined pitch, and configured to rotate about a spindle provided in the center of the rotary table, and works (i.e., headed shafts to be inspected) supplied from a work feeder is introduced to into the respective cutout grooves.
The neck portions of the works are inserted into the cutout grooves provided at the outer periphery of the rotary table such that the works are suspended by the rotary table with their heads placed on the upper surface of the rotary table.
A fixing guide is installed downstream of the installation point of the work feeder (forward in the direction in which the shafts are conveyed) along the outer periphery of the rotary table.
The fixing guide prevents the works introduced from the work feeder into the cutout grooves from slipping away therefrom. The works held by the cutout grooves in this state are conveyed as the rotary table rotates, and the quality inspection of the shaft portion and head portion of each of the works is carried out when each of the works passes by an inspection unit disposed at an intermediate portion of a conveyance path which is formed by the rotation of the rotary table.